Friday, July 30, 2010

July 30, 2010 YEREVAN -- Six Armenian Army servicemen have reportedly been shot dead this week in two separate noncombat-related incidents, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

The Armenian Defense Ministry reported July 29 that an "incident" involving the "use of firearms" and resulting in an unspecified number of casualties took place at one of its military bases on July 28. It gave no details, saying only that military investigators have received the "strictest orders" to clarify all circumstances of the incident.

A source close to the Armenian government told RFE/RL that the incident occurred at an Armenian Army unit in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The source said a soldier serving there shot dead four officers before turning the gun on himself. The report cannot be confirmed.

On July 26, another officer was found dead at an army outpost on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan. Citing "preliminary information," the Defense Ministry said Lieutenant Artak Nazarian shot himself for unknown reasons.

But Nazarian's relatives have rejected the official theory and accused the military of a cover-up.

Nazarian's cousin, Narek Gharibian, was present at a forensic examination of his body conducted at a Yerevan morgue on July 27. Gharibian told RFE/RL that forensic medics found numerous injuries on the dead officer's face, hands, shoulders and feet. He said they believe the injuries were inflicted several hours before his death.

Sources told RFE/RL that military investigators have questioned several officers from Nazarian's unit. No one has been arrested or charged so far.

The Armenian armed forces have been plagued with hazing and other abuses resulting in at least a dozen noncombat deaths each year since their establishment in 1992. Senior and midranking army officers have rarely been prosecuted in connection with those crimes. Those who are put on trial usually get off with short prison sentences.

The Armenian military insists it is doing its best to address the problem in earnest. It says the number of such incidents has steadily and significantly declined since the late 1990s. According to Defense Ministry data, at least seven Armenian soldiers died due to abuse and mistreatment and 11 others committed suicide last year.

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Our Loved Ones

Families

"I told them, 'Hey, if you don't want to deal with mourning families, then recruit orphans."

Peggy Buryj

"After the truth of Pat's death was partially revealed, Pat was no longer of use as a sales asset, and became strictly the Army's problem. They were now left with the task of briefing our family and answering our questions. With any luck, our family would sink quietly into our grief, and the whole unsavory episode would be swept under the rug. However, they miscalculated our family's reaction."Kevin Tillman

"...our treatment by the country for which our loved ones gave their lives has added another dimension of grief and difficulty. Having one another gives us the encouragement to continue."

Joan L. Piper

"The greatest disappointment, is in our country whose leaders plainly have an agenda that values the establishment over the individual, form over fact, expedience over truth. All of us morn the loss of our loved ones, but we also morn the loss of respect that we all have had for our country."

Dr. John Sabow

"I will review these records to identify what led to [Phillip's] murder and the acquittal of his murderer," Esposito said Friday. "In fighting for justice for Phillip, my daughter and myself, I also fight for justice for all officers and servicemembers. No other family should have to suffer as we have." Siobhan Esposito

Historical Fact

"Of the more than 274,000 officers and men who served in the army during the Spanish-American War and the period of demobilization, 5,462 died in the various theaters of operation and in camps in the a U.S. Only 379 of the deaths were battle casualties, the remainder being attributed to disease and other causes."

Source: Encyclopedia of American History by Richard Morris

In 1898, thousands of soldiers got food poisoning from meat packed by Armour and Company and sold to the Army. There are no figures on how many of the five thousand noncombat deaths were caused by this.

The Oxford Companion to American Military History estimates that between 2 percent and 25 percent of the casualties in America's wars are attributable to friendly fire.